U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,657,848 and 5,924,542 to Schwarzli discloses a prior art two-coin actuation mechanism for a vending machine. The two-coin actuation mechanism has a front cover plate with first and second coin slots, a rotatable carrier wheel with first and second coin recesses angularly spaced apart on one face of the carrier wheel and aligned with the first and second coin slots of the cover plate when the carrier wheel is in a home position for the user to deposit a coin into each of the coin recesses, and a notched wheel connected with an opposite face of the carrier wheel for rotation therewith and defining a lobe with notches on front and rear portions of the lobe.
The two-coin mechanism also has a rear retainer plate overlying the carrier wheel and notched wheel and fixedly attached to the front cover plate, and first and second spring-biased detents movably mounted to the rear retainer plate. The detents engage the notched wheel and cooperate with the notches of the notched wheel to prevent rotation of the notched wheel and thus rotation of the carrier wheel unless coins have been deposited into the first and second coin recesses of the carrier wheel.
The two-coin actuation mechanism further has a handle disposed adjacent to and exterior of the front cover plate with a shaft which extends through the front cover plate, carrier wheel, notched wheel and rear retainer plate to rearwardly thereof where a ratchet wheel and gear are fixedly mounted to the rear end of the shaft. The handle may be turned by a user to rotate the shaft and the carrier wheel, ratchet wheel and gear therewith such that when coins have been deposited into the first and second coin recesses on the carrier wheel the detents ride over the deposited coins and do not engage in the coin recesses and such rotation of the carrier wheel causes the deposited coins to exit the carrier wheel at a discharge location into a coin collection box and such rotation of the gear to actuate a dispensing mechanism to cause an item to be dispensed from the machine to the user. Also, spring-loaded pawl is pivotally mounted to the rear retainer plate adjacent to the ratchet wheel so as to engage the ratchet wheel such that the ratchet wheel and the gear, shaft and handle therewith can only be turned in one direction.
The two-coin actuation mechanism still further includes a rocker bar fixedly mounted on the rear retainer plate and having an end stop which normally extends through a hole in the rear retainer plate to adjacent to a slot on the cover plate but not extend from the slot so as to intersect with the path of any coin moved into or removed from the first coin slot of the front cover plate which would block movement or removal of the coin. With reference to the direction of rotation of the handle, shaft and carrier wheel, the second coin slot is the one farther from the coin discharge location than the first coin slot so that when a coin is deposited through the second coin slot and into the second coin recess it is carried by the carrier wheel past the first coin slot on its way to the discharge location. However, upon turning the handle and thus the shaft, carrier wheel and ratchet wheel therewith and as the second coin recess and the coin deposited therein are brought into alignment with the first coin slot, a cam element on the ratchet wheel engages the rocker bar and causes it to deflect so as to project its end stop through the slot on the cover plate and across the coin path thereby blocking removal of the coin from the second coin recess of the carrier wheel through the first coin slot of the front cover plate. This action of the rocker bar and its end stop is synchronized by the cam element to only occur when the coin in the second coin recess is aligned with the first coin slot. At all other times the rocker bar is undeflected and thus its end stop is withdrawn from extension through the slot.
Problems exist, however, with the design of this prior art two-coin actuation mechanism. First, the first and second coin recesses in the coin carrier wheel of this two-coin mechanism are each designed to receive only a single coin. Second, the coin carrier wheel of this two-coin mechanism, by having the coin recesses on one face and a notched wheel on the opposite face with the detent-engaging notches and further by using the rocker bar coin blocking device, has proportionately increased the complexity and cost of the design over that of the conventional prior art single-coin actuation mechanism.
Consequently, there is a continuing need for further innovations that will overcome these drawbacks.